1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to support straps for supporting musical instruments, and, more particularly, to an instrument strap assembly to be worn by a player in a sitting or standing position for supporting a musical instrument, such as a guitar, in a face-up horizontal position that stabilizes the instrument while being played without impeding freedom of movement of the player's hands.
2. Background Art
A conventional “two-point” guitar strap typically has a buttonhole at each end that is slipped over a small strap button (also known as a lug, end pin, or knob), one at the bottom end of the guitar body or “lower bout”, and the other at the neck end or fret board end, of the body, that are secured to the guitar by a variety of fastening means. The conventional “two-point” guitar strap is designed primarily to support the guitar on front of the player by the strap buttons at the bottom end of the guitar body or “lower bout”, and the neck end or heel of the fret board with the face and playing surface or strings of the guitar facing outwardly from the player.
An acoustic lap steel guitar, also commonly referred to as a “DoBro”, or resonator or resophonic guitar, or slide guitar are played using a metal slide called a “steel” (or tone bar) or a tube slipped over a finger to engage the strings of the guitar instead of pressing down on the string to engage the frets of the guitar. These types of guitars are often played with the guitar disposed horizontally with the strings facing upward with the guitar supported across the knees of a seated player, or on a stool or platform in front of the seated player. The metal slide is held by, or the tube is slipped over a finger of, the player's left hand and moved along the strings to change the instrument's pitch while the right hand plucks the strings (if they are right hand players). As used herein, the term “fret-hand” refers to the hand that moves the bar or slide. The term “picking-hand” refers to the opposite hand of the fret-hand; this is the hand that plucks the strings.
The “DoBro” guitar, introduced in 1928 by the Dopyera Brothers, is an acoustic slide guitar which has a metal resonator in the middle of the soundboard. The term “DoBro” is a contraction of Dopyera and Brothers, and has become a generic term to identify guitars having a metal resonator on the soundboard.
The “DoBro” type guitars are preferably played in a standing position with the guitar disposed horizontally and the face and strings of the guitar facing upward. This is because the standing position permits full output from the acoustic instrument because the backside of the guitar is free to resonate, as opposed to being pressed against the player's body or lap. These types of guitars also project sound better in a position tilted slightly away from the body and toward the listener or microphone.
It is very difficult to stabilize and to play a “DoBro” or acoustic lap steel instrument, or an electric lap steel in a standing position while maintaining the face and strings of the guitar facing upward using a conventional two-point guitar strap because the guitar is supported at a point at each end of the guitar and tends to rotate or roll about the horizontal axis of the guitar body. In some cases, the guitar will roll such that the strings face either toward the player's stomach, or face outwardly away from the player's stomach.
Another problem with suspending these types of guitars horizontally from a conventional two-point strap with the face and strings of the guitar facing upward is that the shape of the body is usually the traditional figure-8 shape with a rounded butt-end, similar to the shape of regular acoustic guitars. Thus, the playing surface (fret board) is disposed to the left of center of the player's body (for a right handed player), and the guitar tends to center itself on the two-point strap, which can move the fret board out of the preferred position, such that the player's fret-hand (the hand that moves the bar or slide) cannot easily access the higher frets of the guitar.
Some players attempt to stabilize the guitar with the underside of their right forearm (if they are right-handed players), or with the heel of their right hand (“picking-hand”). Other players (if they are right-handed players) place the shoulder strap over their left shoulder, and place their right forearm under the right hand end of the strap to stabilize the guitar. Still other players (if they are right-handed players) place their right arm over top of the strap then around the outside and under the strap such that the strap has a half twist around their right forearm.
With these techniques, the right arm and left shoulder area are the main points of contact on the player's body that hold the weight of the guitar and the forearm of the “picking-hand” is trapped between the strap and the guitar body. These methods of support also limit the freedom of movement of the player's “picking-hand” that plucks the strings, and also tend to move the fret board and headboard around. In the standing position, after extended play, there is a tendency for the picking-hand to become numb from lack of blood circulation to the hand. A portion of the instrument weight and a portion of the downward force caused by barring the frets and picking the strings are transferred to the player's forearm and picking-hand via the strap. These loads are transferred because the forearm is trapped and the portion of the strap at the player's shoulder does not carry the entire playing load.
Peavey et al, U.S. Pat. No. 7,586,029 discloses a guitar and strap for playing in a standing configuration wherein the guitar is suspended from a strap about a player's shoulder with a front plane of the guitar oriented generally horizontally. The guitar includes a horn extending from the body transversely with respect to the neck to a tip of the horn, the horn including a curvate edge extending from the tip toward a bottom of the body for engaging a fret-hand side of the player. The tip and the curvate edge of the horn are sized and shaped such that the body and neck are offset towards the fret-hand side of the player when suspended, thereby giving the player ready access to higher frets of the neck. In preferred embodiments, the guitar includes at least three strap buttons disposed about the neck and body; and a strap coupled to the strap buttons such that the guitar is suspended from the strap at three points.
There are also several patents directed toward support straps for supporting musical instruments, such as guitars, with the face and playing surface or strings thereof facing outwardly from the player, but are not particularly suited to for supporting an instrument, such as a guitar, from a player in a standing position with the instrument disposed horizontally with the face and playing surface or strings thereof facing upward.
Healy, U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,103 discloses a belt-hook assembly that is attached to the rear surface of the body of an instrument, and the musician wears a belt assembly having a depending strap segment fastened thereto which buckles to a second strap segment that is attached to the base of the instrument's body.
Ruzika et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,315 discloses a shoulder strap having an arcuate or bow-like curved first support portion configured to lie across the back of the player, and a linear second support portion that lies across the player's shoulder. Each end of the shoulder strap is adapted to attach to a musical instrument by means of a pivot member and a connecting element.
Tonon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,158 discloses a three-point harness strap for suspending a musical instrument which has a main body and an extension, with a first connector for attaching the strap to the main body of the instrument, a second connector for attaching the strap to the extension of the instrument from its main body, and a third connector between the first and second connectors and for attachment to the instrument between its main body and extension for limiting the extent to which the strap can be displaced from the body of the instrument.
D'Addario et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,293, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a quick release musical instrument strap attachment, known as the Acoustic-Quick Release System which is manufactured and marketed by the Planet Waves division of D'Addario & Company, Inc., of Farmingdale, N.Y. The quick release system includes a strap attachment unit and a musical instrument attachment unit. The strap attachment unit has a female receiving quick release portion with a base portion and a hollow body portion for receiving and locking a male quick release portion with a first cord having both ends thereof attached to the base portion of the female quick release portion to form a loop. The musical instrument attachment unit has a male quick release insertion unit with a base portion and an insertion means adapted for insertion and locking into the hollow body portion of the female receiving quick release portion, and a second cord having both ends thereof attached to the base portion of the male receiving quick release portion to form a loop. The strap attachment unit is attachable to a strap and the musical instrument attachment unit is attachable to the musical instrument.
Beck, U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,384 discloses a connecting device for attaching a shoulder strap to the neck of the instrument. The device has a looped portion which extends beneath the strings along one side of the neck, and across the bottom of the neck to encircle the neck with opposite ends adjacent the top edge of the neck. A fastener joins the end portions of the looped portion together, and is provided with a stem and a head over which a slotted end of the guitar strap may be manipulated to rest on the stem and be retained on the fastener by the head.
Lehoux, U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,731 discloses a double strap harness having right and left shoulder strap systems and a back connecting system for supporting and positioning a guitar or similar instrument in front of a player with the strings facing outwardly from the player. The right shoulder strap system extends over the right shoulder and is mounted on the strumming end of the guitar. The left shoulder strap system includes two straps extending over the left shoulder mounted to the front and back of the player, and a strap mounted on the fret end of the guitar. The back connecting system ties the right and left strap systems together.
Miller, U.S. Pat. No. 7,470,842 discloses a cradle for a musical instrument, which consists of a support having a figure-8 configuration including a pair of loops adapted to support the musical instrument without the use of any fastening device. The cradle has a strap with a pair of ends, each of which is connected to a loop of the support. A buckle may be provided to adjust the length of the strap. In use, a musical instrument is positioned in the inventive cradle with the loops supporting the instrument in front of a player with the strings facing outwardly from the player.
Furuta, U.S. Pat. No. 7,781,656 discloses a strap for a guitar that has a strap belt and two strap connectors each of which is provided at each end of the strap belt. Each strap connector includes a base plate with a first opening, a second opening, and a slit. The first opening has a diameter greater than a head portion of a connector pin. The second opening has a diameter smaller than a neck portion of the connector pin. The slit connects the first and second openings and has a width smaller than the diameter of a neck portion of the connector pin.